A True Gryffindor
by mum-to-you
Summary: A sweet story about the next generation. Meet Emma Charlotte Weasley, who is starting her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


A True Gryffindor

Emma stood in front of the glass case in the Trophy Room at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and pondered things. At tonight's feast, she had been sorted into Gryffindor House, and that felt all wrong. She had fully expected to be placed in Ravenclaw, as her mother had been. Daddy would be chuffed to pieces, but Emma hated to think what people might expect of her. She didn't feel one bit brave.

She pushed her glasses up on her nose and craned her neck to look up at the top shelf of awards, where the really, really old ones were on display. Up at the top, she found what she was looking for: Papa's prefect plaque. If he were here with her, she wouldn't be so afraid. You just couldn't be afraid when you were with Papa. You could crawl up into his lap, and he would hold you and call you his best girl, next to Nan, of course. And you were safe.

Emma's eyes scanned the shelf again until she found her nan's Head Girl award. Emma squeezed her eyes shut to keep from blubbing. She missed Nan's cups of tea and the biscuits they baked together and the way Nan let her get away with things that she yelled at her own grown-up children for. She missed her grandparents very much and couldn't wait until Christmas holidays to see them.

On a shelf much farther down, there were lots of names she knew. Uncle Bill had been a prefect, then Head Boy, of course, like Daddy. Uncle Charlie had been a prefect and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Uncle Ron had been a prefect, Head Boy, _and_ Quidditch captain. Aunt Ginny had also been a prefect and Quidditch captain. Even Uncle Fred and Uncle George had an award. It was upstairs under a window on the fifth floor of the east wing of the castle: a little memorial swamp that was a great source of hilarity in her family. How could she even begin to compete with all that?

Emma was overwhelmed and a tear trickled down her face. She wasn't like the others. Not brave at all. She didn't even look like them. She peered at her face in the glass of the trophy case. Tiny elfin features, serious brown eyes behind wire spectacles, chin-length, stick-straight brown hair, and a scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose were reflected back to her. She didn't look the part, and she felt in her heart that the chances of the name Emma Charlotte Weasley appearing on a plaque in this case were very slim. She hoped Daddy would still be proud of her even if it didn't.

Daddy thought being Head Boy was more important than Uncle Bill seemed to, but then Daddy, like Emma herself, tended to take everything very seriously. Mummy had been a prefect, too, but she always said that even if something were serious, you could still laugh at it. Daddy never understood that either, really, he had confided in Emma, but Mummy would tickle them both until they laughed anyway. Mummy had a way of keeping Daddy jolly even when he would get what she called "puffed up like a toad," and she sometimes called him a prat, but he didn't seem to mind.

Thinking of Mummy and Daddy made Emma start to cry in earnest. She would give anything right now to climb up into Daddy's lap so he would read her favorite story and make all the funny voices. Then Mummy would tuck her in and rub her back until she fell asleep. She even missed her sisters, who usually upset her with their running around and their noise. Mummy always said that even though they all _looked_ like Daddy, _she_ was the one who was really like him on the inside, and that it made her very special.

Daddy could certainly be surprising. He worked as an Auror for the Ministry, and he was the strongest, bravest man she knew. She had overheard from whispered family conversations that there were dangers he had faced and demons he had conquered even before she had been born, ones that he never talked about except with Mummy, and he rarely showed his deepest feelings very easily. But when she had watched forlornly out the window as the Hogwarts Express had pulled out of Platform 9 3/4 today, it was Mummy who had been smiling and waving and Daddy who was wiping away tears.

Emma thought about that for a minute. She was the most like Daddy, and he had been in Gryffindor. Maybe it wasn't a mistake. What if Tessa, who looks exactly like a Weasley got sorted into Ravenclaw next year? Or even Hufflepuff? The thought of that made her giggle. She took another look at all the names that gave her a deep connection to this scary, strange place, all the people who loved her so much, and she didn't feel quite so frightened.

She made her way back up to the Gryffindor tower without getting lost once. As she walked into her dormitory, she heard a soft hooting. She turned and, there, on the foot of bed was a large screech owl. "Hermes!" she cried out. She ran over to the old owl, and he not quite begrudgingly allowed her to give him a big hug. She untied the note and unrolled it. It was from Mummy.

_My dearest Emma,  
We just got the owl from Hogwarts telling us you are in Gryffindor. I think that's just wonderful! In fact, Daddy has just officially made me an honorary Gryffindor for the occasion, so we can all be in the same house. He says that Head Boys have the authority to do that. (Daddy is very silly, isn't he?) _

_I love you, darling. Write us soon and tell us about all your classes. Once you get settled in and make some friends, you'll be just fine, I promise. Tessa, Olivia, Eliza, Amelia, and Lucy miss their big sister already._

_Love,  
Mummy_

Emma continued reading and absent-mindedly patted Hermes on his head, which he shook indignantly. At the bottom of the parchment was a note from Daddy.

_Poppet,  
Hurrah! I knew you would make Gryffindor! I just knew it! (Ahem.) Please let me take this opportunity to be the first alumnus of the house to congratulate you. You will no doubt be a credit to the Gryffindors during your years there, and I have every confidence that you will shine in your own way, as all the Weasleys have done._

_Oh dear, I seem to have puffed up again, haven't I? What a load of bosh. I'm already so proud of you I could burst. And let me tell you a secret: on my first night at Hogwarts, I was absolutely terrified. I missed your Nan and Papa so much that I cried myself to sleep. (Please don't tell Mummy about that.) If you are anything like me, you probably feel the same. My point is that I absolutely promise you that tomorrow will be better. I've given Hermes very strict instructions to stay with you tonight so you won't feel so alone._

_Remember that the Sorting Hat _never_ makes a mistake and that you really are my very brave girl, and I love you, love, you, love you._

_Daddy_

Emma propped the note up on the nightstand where she could see it and crawled into bed with a lighter heart. Hermes settled down on the corner of the bed by her pillow, making a show of grumpiness, but nipping at her hair affectionately and hooting softly. She smoothed down the feathers on his back as she lay there drifting off to sleep. It would be all right, she decided. If her Daddy said it would be all right, then it would be.


End file.
